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Forward Forever 

i 
I 

(a reply to lord Tennyson), j 

HEAVEN ON EARTH, 

— AND j/ 

OTHER POEMS. 



FORWARD FOREVER! 



A Response to 



LORD TENNYSON'S 

"LocKSLEY Hall Sixty Yeai^s Aftei^," 

Heaven on Earth, and other Poems. 



By WILLIAM J. SHAW, 
The Poet Hermit. 



New York, 
FOWLER & WELLS CO. 

1888. 



fSzyU ^ 






Copyright, 1888. 
Fowler & AVells Co. 



''But life shall on and upward go; 
Th' eternal step of Progress beats 
To that great anthem, calm and slow, 
Which God repeats." 



J. G. WHITTIER. 



Forward Forever. 



Kindly greeting, honored poet, now we send 

across the wave — 
Still your hands are strong to labor, still your 

heart is warm and brave ! 

All good angels guard and guide thee safely 

down life's sunset slope. 
And with faith's divine assurance shape the 

anchors of thy hope. 

Over all our vales and mountains, as above fair 

Briton's ow^n, 
Wings of peace and love outspreading, all thy 

welcome songs have flown. 



6 FORWARD FOREVER. 

In a million homes of freemen pictures fair thy 

hands have hung, 
And around life's common blessings fanc}'S 

robes of beauty flung. 

On our shores the rosy mornings now with 

greater beauty break — 
All our hillside flowers and fountains have new 

meanings for thy sake. 

Mountain peaks of thought pierce further into 

Truth's clear skies to-day — 
Broader streams, through spirit valleys, sweep 

in conscious strength away, 

Since thy pen in founts poetic dipped has left 

its traces bright, 
All along the pathways leading out of darkness 

into light ; 

Till within we kindly feel the fires of recogni- 
tion glow, 

All kind wishes warm with blessing to your 
heart and hearth-stone flow. 



FORWARD FOREVER. 



II. 



But your recent poem leads us under shadoAvs 

— awful glooms — 
Where the night winds, sadly sighing, wander 

over silent tombs. 

What strange shapes rise up before us— Oh, 

how ghastly, grim, and tall ! 
Hark ! our fiendish foes are coming— listen ! 

frightful voices call ! 

Ever through the gathering darkness lurid 

hghtnings gleam and flash- 
Loudly o'er the distant mountains, threat'ning 

thunders boom and crash. 

Kings upon their thrones are trembling, thrones 

of monarchs bow and fall — 
Ruin — chaos seems impending — woe — and woe 

unto us all ? 



8 FORWARD FOREVER 

Rule of^^dynamite and revolver— seas of pas- 
sion, lust, and crime, 

Surging underneath the surf ace— bursting from 
the hills of Time. 

Earthquake shocks the earth are shaking; all 

we thought was solid ground 
Seems upheaving, like the ocean Avhen the 

winds majestic sound. 

Hearts of men for fear are failing, looking for 

the things to come ; 
Human hands with fear are helpless, many 

tongues with terror dumb. 

Let us hush the cry of ''forward!'' till the 

ages have long fled ; 
Backward— downward we are tending— ''all 

our steps are on the dead." 



FORWARD FOREVER. 



III. 



Never ! all the earth is moving sunward as the 

centuries fly — 
Morning stars in splendor sparkle, hanging in 

the eastern sky. 

^^ Forward! forward!" ring the voices over 
every land and sea ; 

Forward — aye — but never backward — retro- 
gression cannot be. 

Still the bells of hope are pealing, struck by 

strong and stainless hands, 
Evermore their chimes are stealing, clear and 

sweet, o'er all the lands. 

Iron fetters still are breaking, prison doors are 

opening wide, 
Justice stern at last is taking love to be his 

beauteous bride. 



10 FORWARD FOREVER. 

Hark 1 a shout goes up to heaven hke tJie sound- 
ing of the sea ; 

Tis the shout of dusky milhons— slaves and 
bondmen going free ! 

Fair repubUcs greet each other— through the 

billov\rs clasping hands- 
Liberty, her torch uplifting, clad in strength 

and beauty stands ! 

Fair as Miriam, Jewish maiden, stood of old 

upon the shore, 
Singing ''God hath triumphed gloriously, horse 

and rider are no more 1 " 

When old England's reigning Pharaoh sent his 

vassals to pursue. 
And to gather grains unjustly from each head 

of wheat that grew, 

Washhigton— our mighty Moses— La Fayette 

— our Aaron brave — 
Stretched their rods, wi\h shar^pened edges, over 

war's tunuiltuous wave. 



FORWARD FOREVER. 11 

^'Forward ! " was their cry, and forward did 

our fathers fearless press 
Through the waters, gladly parting in the cause 

of righteousness ; 

And where'er our flag is floating, in the sun- 
beam or the night, 

Still their viewless hands are reaching to uphold 
its stars of light ! 

Up the mount of glory climbing, God of 

nations ! guide our feet. 
Till they press the shining summit, till they 

walk the golden street. 

Every wheel that steam is turning, every mes- 
sage lightnings fling. 

Paths of peace and power are paving for the 
coming of the King. 

Coming not to bring destruction, save to that 

which lives by wrong, 
Coming dungeons dark to open, silent lips to 

touch with song. 



12 FORWARD FOREVER. 

Coming not with conflagration, evolution's 

march to end. 
On the foes of human progress judgment fires 

alone descend. 

Pluck the monarchs from their seats— set sons 

of freedom in their stead ! 
With the freeman's snowy ballot, strike the 

crown from every head ! 

Bring no " age of darkness back, without the 

faith, without the hope ; " 
But break the rule of tyrant thrones, and ''roll 

their ruins down the slope ! " 

Equal born with equal ballot, "forward!'' 

sons of freedom cry ! 
Let it ring till all the mountain peaks of earth 

and heaven reply I 

All who rule the Lord's free people, must hence- 
forth their servants be ; 

Hearing, in the voice of miUions, voices of the 
Deity. 



FORWARD FOREVER. 13 

But with dynamite and pistol do not try to 

force your way ; 
Wrong with wrong you cannot conquer, 

preach or practice it who may. 

Ever, ever, and forever, as the ages roll 

along. 
Right, on every field of battle, grandly triumphs 

over wrong. 

Clouds may veil the sun in heaven, never turns 

its chariot back ; 
Storms of self and sin are raging, still we keep 

the shining track. 

If his wing met no resistance, never could the 

eagle rise ; 
By resistance overcoming only can he mount 

the skies. 

All the things we know as evil, come not in 

our way by chance ; 
Love, unchanging love, hath placed them, 

requisites to our advance. 



14: FORWARD FOREVER. 

Trampling upon the powers of darkness — tread- 
ing wrong and error down — 

Slowly, surely, through the csons we are climb- ' 
ing t'ward the crown. 

Backward ? downward ? never, never ! over 

prostrate forms of ill 
Roll the wheels of human progress, onward, 

up the heavenly hill. 

Breaking of existing orders, shaking of estab- 
lished powers. 

Are to me but spring-time voices — prophecies 
of summer flowers. 

Rivers crashing with their ices, breaking up 

their chains of frost — 
South winds calling through the forests for the 

flowers the autumn lost. 

It is spring — these times unsettled, crash and 

change in every clime — 
Will be followed by the perfect, golden days 

of summer-time. 



FORWARD FOREVER. 15 

It is morning — day is breaking, shadows of the 

night take wing — 
Watchmen ! sound your silver trumpets — let 

the bells of heaven ring ! 

^'Forward ! " still ten thousand voices sound 

the stirring battle-cry ; 
''Forward ! " still the echoes answer from the 

arches in the sky ! 

Love shall yet be law and gospel, Christ shall 

yet be king of kings ; 
''Forward! Forward!" be our watchword, 

long as earth her cycle swings ! 



Hebron, N. Y. 

Feb. 1st, 1887. 



Heaven on Earth. 



They sung that hymn in meetin' I've heard 

'em sing of old — 
About ''the heavenly mansions an' the streets 

of shinin' gold." 
I can't now just remember the way the verses 

run^ 
But this, I'm very sartin', come in before 'twas 

done : 



''My Father's house is built on higii, fur, fur 

above the starry sky; 
When from this earthly prison free, that 

heav'nly mansion mine shall be." 
An' when I heard 'em sing it, an' some o' the 

brelliren shout, 



HEAVEN ON EARTH. 17 

The meaning of it all I'm sure I couldn't quite 

make out ; 
An' joggin' home from meetin' that blessed 

summer day, 
It sot me hard a thinkin' in a most uncommon 

way. 



The air was sweet with roses, 'tw^as in the 

month o' June — 
The fields were full of posies, and all the earth 

in tune, 
An' the birds, they were a singin' as if to split 

their throats — 
(I'm dretful fond of music, but never sing the 

notes — ) 
Down thru' the maple branches the giit'rin' 

sunshine fell. 
And God's great hand across the sky seemed 

writin'— '' All is well." 



An' sez 1 1' myself, I wonder if the feller who 
writ that song 



18 HEAVEN ON EARTH. 

Wa'n't jest a leetle dyspeptic^, an' didn't feel 

quite strong — 
Or mebbe his wife lied scolded, as wimmen 

sometimes du, 
An' thro wed so many ivords in the way that 

he couldn't quite git thru' — 
Or mebbe he'd lost his fortin. an' was drinkin' 

that bitter cup^ 
Or sumthin' else was upon him, that well nigh 

broke him up. 

For I can't see why to save me — an' I look 

with both my eyes — 
The poets an' such should hoist their heaven 

way up above the skies, 
An' make it so unnat'ral, so kind o' misty an' 

thin, 
That a feller from earth would want to get 

out, if ever he once got in ; 
An' then, 'taint very likely the Lord'll keep a 

soul 
A singin' an' praisin' before His throne, while 

years an' years shall roll, 



HEAVEN ON EARTH. 19 

Jest singin', an' praisin', an' walkin' about the 

streets o' gold, 
When all the time He has sheep that are lost, 

an' sick, an fur from the fold. 



I know if my little Mary got lost some winter 

night, 
/wouldn't allow my boys to set by the fire all 

vv arm an' bright, 
An' tell how much they loved me, an praise 

me to my face — 
I'd start them after Mary at a right good rapid 

pace. 



I'd say, " now bo5'^s, if ye mean it — yourlovin' 
talk to me — 

Jest snatch that lantern from its peg, an' come 
— come quick — all three, 

An' help me search for Mary — she's lost some- 
where in town — 

An' it aint no time fur pretty talk, nor idle 
settin' down." 



20 HEAVEN ON EAKTH. 

Then out in the storm an' darkness, an' over 

the drif tin' snow 
We'd search fur the httle darhn', an' never 

homeward go 
'Till I'd found an' felt her nestled close up to 

my beatin' hearty 
Fur I tell ye little Mary an' me couldn't live 

very long apart. 



Is the heart of God less tender than mme^ I'd 

like to know ? 
Can eyes in heaven keep clear o' tears an' look 

on endless woe ? 
An' tho' I'm prayin', strivin ' to reach the 

shinin' goal^ 
An' b'l'eve in God, an' Christ, an' Heaven, 

with all m}^ heart an' soul, 
Yet still I can't help thinkin' — unless from 

grace I fell — 
That such a heaven 's they sing about would 

be almost a hell ! 



HEAVEN ON EARTH. 21 

Just then I turned the corner, into the Icmg 

home lane, 
An' there stood wife a waitin' — (I gen'ly call 

her Jane) 
An' she climbed into the waggin' with kisses 

true an' sweet, 
While the sunshine streamin' between the trees 

made our lane a golden street; 
Up which we rode a singin', our joy about com- 
plete, — 
When all at once the horses stopped, an' did 

our singin' too ; 
An' Jane, my leetle gem of a wife, why what 

did she up an' do 
But' put her two arms about me, an' her head 

upon my breast, 
An' sure as yer born she was cryin' — a cryin' 

for joy, I'll be blest ! 



She says, says she, '^my heart is so full of joy, 
an' praise, an' thanks. 

That just like the river there in Spring, it over- 
flows its banks; 



22 HEAVEN ON EARTH. 

An' I'm so glad an' happy in this dear home 

of ours, 
The blessin's of heaven they seem to fall right 

dov^n like summer showers. 



Our house is good, as houses go (of course, 

it wa'n't put up for show), 
We've enough to eat and enough to wear, with 

a trifle laid by if the weather aint fair; 
But such like things are the settin' found the 

precious jewel of home around; 
The home is within ^wheve by power from above, 

all hearts are bound together by love. 
" Oh, John! I love you so much," says she, 

" an' I know right well that you love me. 
While the darlin' children, like bands of gold, 

our souls in closest union hold. 
That long as we live, an' where'er we roam, 

we'll have on the earth a heavenly home." 



Says I, as I kissed her up-turned brow, ''you've 
spoken my mind right out, I vow ! 



HEAVEN ON EARTH. 23 

All' if the fellers who write the songs an' preach 

the sermons, an' draw the throngs, 
Would paint their heaven as you do, Jane, 

more folks that grand estate would 

gain ; 
But they make it so unearthly like, an' opposed 

to all we know, 
An' up so high above the sky folks don't jest 

want to go; 
If they wouldn't fill it quite so full of bein's 

with snoivy wings, 
But would jest throw in more honest folks 

along with their fancy things, 
Some good, true women an' noble men, an' 

children som'at like ours, 
I'd shout when they sung of a heaven hkethat, 

' amen ! ' with all my powers. " 



An' after all, my brethren, it sartin' seems to 
me. 

That on one pint of scriptur' we may as well 
agree — • 



24 HEAVEN ON EARTH. 

That John, the Revelator, don't say '' beyond 

the sky, 
To find the New Jerusalem, we're goin' to soar 

on high/' 
But sure as I have eyes to read, he says ''it 

shall descend 
From God, an' come down to the earth, when 

time shall have an end." 



So let us labor bravely an' spend our strength 
aright ; 

So let us go straight on by faith where we 
can't jest walk by sight\ 

An' let us make home sweeter — more kind o' 
heavenly like — 

AtC in these wondrous strikin' times, let every- 
body strike — 

For God, an' truth, an' virtue, an' everything 
of worth, 

But 0, my friends, don't strike too high — hit 
hard agin' the earth ! 



Stand Fast. 



stand fast when the showers are falhng, 
When soft winds gently blow, 
And the streamlets sound 
As they gladly bound 
To the emerald vales below ; 
When their eyes of blue in the meadows 
The violets open wide, 
And swinging at ease 
In the tops of the trees 
Each bird is calhng his bride. 

Oh then in the gushing gladness, 
Of life and youthful joy, 
As your bounding feet 
So free and fleet 
Toward manhood climb, my boy ! 



26 STAND FAST. 

From virtue never turning. 
Stand fast as the hills of earth, 
By the counsel kind, 
Howe'er it bind, 
Of those who gave you birth. 



Oh then in your bloora and beauty, 
As life unfolds, my girl I 

Through those years of bhss 
Let the sunbeams kiss 
A brow as pure as pearl ; 
To woman's crown of glory. 
As over golden stairs, 
Advancing still 
Chmb up the hill, 
By way of mother's prayers. 



Stand fast when the glow of summer 
Is over all the land — 

When the bending grain, 
On the fertile plain 
Awaits the reaper's hand; 



STAND FAST. 27 

In womanhood's completeness, 
And manhood's perfect prime. 

In every fight 

For truth and right, 
Stand fast in the summer time. 



And calm as the dewy evenings, 
That fall star-crowned and still. 
To yourself be true, 
And your work pursue 
With a hearty right good will ; 
For every seed that's scattered 
By honest hearts and brave, 
Outlives the night, 
And fair in light, 
Its harvests yet shall wave. 



Stand fast when the forests bending 
Are swept by the chilhng blast, 

When the dead leaves fall 

By the garden wall, 
And the flowers are fading fast ; 



28 STAND FAST. 

When age and care together 
Have furrowed cheek and brow, 
If ever you stood 
For the pure and good, 
Stand firm and fearless now ! 



Pause not for a single moment, 
To backward look nor sigh 
For the flowers dead 
And the joys now fled. 
Or the strength of years gone by ; 
The stars of heaven still sparkle 
With undiminished flame — 
The God of love 
Still rules above — 
Stand fast in His holy name. 



Pass gladly on to others 

The flag from your stainless hand, 
And say — ''God speed 
Whatever your creed. 

So Christ as captain stand ! " 



STAND FAST. 29 



Then away to the coming ages, 

In spirit vision go, 
Where never a tear 
Will fall, and hear 

The matin trumpets blow. 

And all the harps of heaven. 
In harmonies ring out, 

O'er the earth new born, 
In the rosy morn, 
And hear the victor shout 
Of overcoming millions 
So long by error bound, 
As with never a flaw 
Love's perfect law 
Shall clasp the earth around. 



Stand fast when the winter cometh, 
White-robed with icy breath — 
And your feet must go 
Through its drifting snow 
To the silent realm of death ; 



30 STAND FAST. 

With faith in God unshaken 

Stand fast— no doubts or fears- 
Your soul in strength 
Shall walk the lengtli 
Of God's eternal years. 



The Evening Hour. 



Beside my cottage door I stand, 
With verdant hills on either hand, 
Above the star-lit skies expand. 

The twilight shadows gently fall 
Across the vale and mountains tall — 
A holy hush is over all. 

Comes through the evening calm and still 
The distant song of Whippoorwill, 
The moon looks o'er the eastern hill. 

I see the planets, burning bright, 

Look through the pulsing peace of night, 

And all my soul is filled with light. 



32 THE EVENING HOUR. 

And all along my pilgrim way. 
Until it meets the perfect day. 
There falls a pure and pearly ray. 

To all life's questions come replies, 
From mountain peaks that round me rise, 
And down from yonder throbbing skies. 

Oh, never yet did man-made creed 
Bind up the hearts that break and bleed, 
Or L^ouls that hunger fullj^ feed. 

'Tis when I leave them all behind, 
And come to Christ with willing mind, 
My soul doth satisfaction find. 

With tear- wet eyes I bless the day 
I heard the Christ within me say — 
" Cast all conflicting creeds away ! " 

So at this evening hour of rest 
I turn from all the weary quest 
To lay my head upon his breast. 



THE EVENING HOUR. 33 

I think of those who once were here — 

Of friends who shared our household cheer — 

Of missing kindred doubly dear. 

Oh, shall we all, when life is done, 
And those eternal years begun, 
Regain our jewels every one ? 

Oh, lips of love my own have kissed. 
But now for years so sadly missed — 
Upon an answer I insist ! 

And yet my ear has never heard 
The solemn twilight stillness stirred 
By angel wing or whispered word, 

But from its jeweled arches high 
The eternal calm of yonder sky 
Sends to my soul its sure reply : 

'' The cords of love can never break ! 
The dead of earth shall all awake — 
And God full recompense must make ! 



34 THE EVENING HOUR. 

" His stars of hope must ever shine ; 

Around his Justice, all divine 

The flowers of love and mercy twine. 

" While human eyes with tears are wet. 
And erring feet in darkness set, 
' Our Father ' never can forget ! 

" If one poor soul were left below 

To suffer everlasting woe, 

What peace could love in heaven know ? 

" Whate'er He does is always right. 
And morn will scatter every night ! " 
So say the planets burning bright. 



-*DKHKY OF 



CONGRESS 




